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Controlling turf algae/derbisia in a 3g tank


mnvikes8484

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i think i have derbesia (pretty sure its not bryopsis not feathered looking) overrunning my 3g tank, ive been manually removing it and doing aggressive water changes and its still not going away. i dont have any pics readily available but it looks exactly like this

 

http://www.reefcleaners.org/derbesia.jpg

 

nuisance algae guide http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=186736 suggests the common "GHA" crew, limpets, chitons (which my tanks is probably too small for plus i dont know where to buy one), or large hermits for controlling it. i have 2 astrea and 2 cerith snails, 3 hermits, at least 4-5 limpets that hitchhiked on my live rock and im still not getting rid of it. anyone else deal with this stuff and have any tips?

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The big p will fix it, its detailed across 50 pages of pics below...natural grazers for it are the urchins but this is always hit or miss. if it was my tank Id dose it and kill it.

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The big p will fix it, its detailed across 50 pages of pics below...natural grazers for it are the urchins but this is always hit or miss. if it was my tank Id dose it and kill it.

 

 

what would you dose it with? and what exactly is the big p?

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Hydrogen peroxide does wonders. Can you take the rock out? When i had it i drained half my tank during water changes. Picked up the rock sprayed a few times with peroxide and waited a minute, then place rock back up and refill tank.

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In my experience with smaller tanks, once you have enough algae growing in one spot, nothing will touch it (for the moment ignoring the option to pop in a sea hare or nudi or some larger consumer of algae). CuC's are great for keeping things in check, but this may be a time to roll up your sleeves and have at it.

 

An eyedroper of 3% peroxide can deal with almost any algae issue. If you've got other stuff you care about on the affected rock just use a q-tip (or cotton puff for larger areas) soaked in it and hold it gently on top the spot in question. Most everything you're likely to have can withstand being out of water for a couple of minutes while you spot treat.

 

Dosing can work and might be needed if there's many, many spots to treat, but caries the possibility of crashing your tank if things go wrong.

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